Manufacturing method of a zipper with a horizontal bent potion and such zipper

ABSTRACT

A manufacturing method of a zipper with a horizontal bent potion includes the following steps. (a) Place the zipper with two strip portions which consist of warp and weft, in a mold that has at least a horizontal bent portion. (b) The mold is heated to the melting point of the weft. (c) The mold makes the shape of the zipper identical to that of the mold. (d) A setting membrane is coated on the zipper to set the shape of the strip portions. Therefore, the zipper may have a different shape.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the invention

The invention generally relates to a manufacturing method of a zipper.More particularly, the invention relates to a manufacturing method of azipper with a horizontal bent potion.

2. Description of the prior art

Zipper has been widely used because it is easy to use and durable. Thereare three types of zipper: metal zipper, nylon zipper and POM zipper. Azipper usually has two rows of teeth and two narrow strip portions (ortapes), which enable the zipper to be sewed onto an item. As illustratedin FIG. 1, the teeth 11 of a metal zipper or a POM zipper 1 are equallyspaced and one row of teeth may engage with the other row of teeth. Withregard to nylon zipper 2, as illustrated in FIG. 2, continuous spiralsor coils 21 are formed through heat by nylon or polyester filaments anda row of the coil may engage with the other row of coil. The stripportions or tapes of a nylon zipper enable the zipper to be sewed ontoan item.

The drawback is that the zipper can not be sewed along an arc or a curve(though it may be sewed along a straight line) (as illustrated in FIG.1). The two rows of the teeth of metal zipper or POM zipper have limitedflexibility. Though the two rows of the teeth of nylon zipper are moreflexible, such zipper may be slightly bent along a curve and the sewingis difficult to do; in addition, appearance is affected after the zipperis sewed along a curve. To eliminate the disadvantages in the prior art,the inventor has put a lot of effort into the subject and hassuccessfully come up with the manufacturing method of a zipper with ahorizontal bent potion and such zipper of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturingmethod of a zipper with a horizontal bent portion and with a differentshape.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a zipper that canbe easily sewed on the flat surface of an item to enhance theappearance.

To reach these objects, the manufacturing method and zipper of thepresent invention is disclosed. The manufacturing method of the presentinvention comprises the following steps. (a) Place the zipper with twostrip portions, which consist of warp and weft, in a mold that has atleast a horizontal bent portion. (b) The mold is heated to the meltingpoint of the weft. (c) The mold makes the shape of the zipper identicalto that of the mold. (d) A setting membrane is coated on the zipper toset the shape of the strip portions. Therefore, a zipper with adifferent shape may be attained.

Also, the melting point of the warp of the two strip portions is higherthan that of the weft of the two strip portions.

The warp may consist of polyester and the weft may consist of PP(polypropylene). Alternatively, the warp may consist of PP(polypropylene) and the weft may consist of polyester. The melting pointof the weft is in the range from 100 to 220 degree C.

Moreover, the zipper of the present invention has at least a horizontalbent portion.

In comparison to the prior art, the zipper of the present invention hasthe following advantages:1. Because the strip portions are made of the warp and weft, which havedifferent melting points, and the weft is melted through the heat of themold, the zipper has a shape identical to that of the mold and has ahorizontal bent portion.2. A setting membrane is coated on the zipper to set the shape of thestrip portions.3. The zipper of the present invention has a different shape and may besewed along a curve (in comparison, the zipper of the prior art can besewed only along a straight line).4. The manufacturing method of the present invention can enhance theappearance of the zipper.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings disclose an illustrative embodiment of the presentinvention which serves to exemplify the various advantages and objectshereof, and are as follows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating how a metal zipper or a POMzipper of the prior art is fitted to a suitcase.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a nylon zipper of the prior art.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the manufacturing method of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a view schematically illustrating step (a) of themanufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view schematically illustrating step (c) of themanufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view schematically illustrating step (d) of themanufacturing method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Please see FIG. 3, which is the manufacturing method of a zipper with ahorizontal bent portion of the present invention. The manufacturingmethod comprises the following steps:

(a) Place the zipper with two strip portions, which consist of warp andweft, in a mold that has at least a horizontal bent portion.(b) The mold is heated to the melting point of the weft.(c) The mold makes the shape of the zipper identical to that of themold.(d) A setting membrane is coated on the zipper to set the shape of thestrip portions.

Please see FIG. 4. The zipper 5 of the present invention comprises twostrip portions 51, two rows of teeth 52 and a sliding tab 53. Thesliding tab 53 may be used to bring together or separate the two rows ofteeth 52. The differences between the zipper 5 of the present inventionand the zipper of the prior art will be described in the following. Thestrip portions 51 consist of warp 511 and weft 512 and the warp 511 andthe weft 512 have different melting points. The warp 511 is made ofnylon, which has a higher melting point and the weft 512 is made of PP(polypropylene), which has a lower melting point. In manufacturing, thezipper 5 is first placed in a mold 6. Then the mold 6 is heated to 150to 180 degree C. to melt the weft 512, which has a lower melting point.As illustrated in FIG. 5, the mold 6 makes the shape of the zipper 5identical to that of the mold 6. Now, the zipper 5 has a horizontal bentportion 513.

Next, a setting membrane 54 is coated on the zipper 5, as illustrated inFIG. 6. The setting membrane 54 consists of PU and can set the shape ofthe strip portions 51.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed in detail hereinabove, it should be understood that thepreferred embodiment is to be regarded in an illustrative manner ratherthan a restrictive manner, and all variations and modifications of thebasic inventive concepts herein taught still fall within the scope ofthe present invention.

Many changes and modifications in the above described embodiment of theinvention can, of course, be carried out without departing from thescope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and theuseful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limitedonly by the scope of the appended claims.

1. A manufacturing method of a zipper with a horizontal bent potion,comprising the following steps: (a) placing the zipper with two stripportions which consist of warp and weft, in a mold that has at least ahorizontal bent portion; (b) heating the mold to a melting point of theweft; (c) the mold making a shape of the zipper identical to that of themold; and (d) coating a setting membrane on the zipper to set the shapeof the strip portions.
 2. The manufacturing method as in claim 1,wherein the warp is made of nylon which has a higher melting point andthe weft is made of PP (polypropylene) which has a lower melting point.3. The manufacturing method as in claim 1, wherein the warp is made ofPP (polypropylene) which has a lower melting point and the weft is madeof nylon which has a higher melting point.
 4. The manufacturing methodas in claim 1, wherein the melting point of the weft is in a range from100 to 220 degree C.
 5. The manufacturing method as in claim 1, whereinthe setting membrane consists of PU.
 6. A zipper with a horizontal bentportion, comprising: two strip portions; two rows of teeth; and asliding tab, disposed on one of the two rows of teeth, wherein eitherstrip portion has at least a horizontal bent portion.
 7. The zipper asin claim 6, wherein the two rows of teeth consist of metal, POM ornylon.